Beyond: The Kira Case
by PleasegiveMeaPenname
Summary: Beyond Birthday has been in prison for awhile now. Due to good behavior, he has gained TV privileges. He is curious about this 'Kira' he's been hearing about. When an exciting new development in the case comes to light, Beyond decides that he has to find out everything he can about Kira. Quickly, it becomes a battle of who will get to Kira first: L, or Beyond.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't own death note.**

Beyond was startled out of sleep by the buzzer sounding. Grudgingly, he got up from the plank of wood called a 'bed' and walked out from his small cell to follow the line of other prisoners to the common area. His orange jumpsuit hung loosely on his lanky frame, making him look even slighter than he actually was. He felt a rough shove from the man behind him, and turned around to glare. His 'neighbor', Shaun Thompson, was constantly doing unnecessary and annoying things. Most people would have been terrified into submission by that man, but not Beyond. He was never submissive, not even to a traffic signal. So, naturally, Shaun refused to stop tormenting him to the best of his ability. Once, he had slammed a hot iron onto Beyond's hand during laundry duty. However, heat didn't bother Beyond that much anymore, for he had once set himself on fire, so he knew what real heat was. Beyond, after an initial grunt of pain from the impact, simply laughed in Shaun's face and told him that being on fire hurt far more than a hot clothes iron. He also offered to show Shaun precisely what he meant. Shaun punched him in the face. Shaun was dragged away by guards as Beyond continued his well-practiced laugh. No other inmate seemed to want to mess with Beyond, which he didn't mind. Less people to bother him. Granted, there was a real good reason no one bothered him.

When he had finally been released from the hospital into the prison, he was constantly attacked, both physically and verbally. He dealt with this for the most part, but the physical beatings were getting quite problematic. He had nothing to do at the moment, but that didn't mean that he wanted to die, either. He reached the common area and got his breakfast. Prison meals were woefully lacking in sugar, and tasted horrible. Not that he'd prefer to starve, though. He went past a guard to the TV room. Only a few inmates were allowed into here, and Beyond was one. He had managed to gain this privilege through good behavior, and intended to use it to its fullest. Lately, many inmates had been dying of heart attacks. Most were calling this the work of a person nicknamed Kira. There were people who practically worshipped Kira as a god. Beyond thought of him as a person who had a terribly black and white view on justice. Kira seemed to act quite juvenile, but Beyond wasn't too terribly interested in Kira. He wanted to know what L was going to do about it. He had been waiting for news on L for awhile now, and had started to become irritated. However, his irritation disappeared once the news anchor made the next announcement.

"As you all know, someone now known as 'Kira' has been killing criminals with heart attacks. L has recently taken up the case, and has narrowed down Kira's location to Tokyo, Japan. We have been allowed to show you a recording of the broadcast here today. Let's take a look," he said.

The screen changed to show a dark haired man with glasses at a desk. The man's name was Lind L. Tailor. Beyond was curious as to what exactly was happening until Tailor spoke. " I am Lind L. Tailor, otherwise known as L. To the perpetrator of these serial murders: you have committed the most abominable act in history. I will personally catch the one behind it…'Kira' at any cost."

Beyond chuckled. A true chuckle, not a practiced one. _So, L._ THAT'S _your angle. Make Kira kill this guy to see what he can do for yourself. Must have only broadcasted this in Tokyo at first to narrow it down. Interesting._ He thought. He continued watching the broadcast, and ignored the surprised gasps once the fake died and the real L started speaking. Beyond thought for a few moments. If he could get to Tokyo, he could most likely beat L in finding Kira. Even without the resources L had at his disposal, Beyond had an ability L didn't: he could see the names and death dates of everyone around him. Beyond could very well find Kira with this ability. Not that he cared too terribly much. After all, Kira couldn't kill him, as his identity was never released to the public. Beyond had come to see that inmates whose identities were kept secret didn't die, while all the others did. A choking noise pulled him from his thoughts and he turned around to see another inmate, Adam, in the middle of a heart attack. Although, Adam's death date wasn't supposed to come for six more YEARS. So Beyond watched, intrigued, as a guard attempted to help him. Without warning, Adam's numbers changed to zeros. Beyond's eyes widened. _Kira can circumvent death dates!?_ His head was reeling from this sudden development. What ability could Kira possibly possess that allowed him to bypass that rule? Due to this, he decided that now he HAD to get out, if only to figure out how Kira did this; and he knew exactly how he would do it. He smirked, his expression darkening in malevolent curiosity. _I'm coming, Kira._

Beyond remembered when he had first realized what the numbers meant. It wasn't a particularly happy time, as A had been the only person he had cared about in a positive manner, so far. A's death was the reason he had left Wammy's. He had already begun to doubt the so-called 'noble' mission of the orphanage, but A's death had cemented his doubt as warranted. He had decided the moment he had seen the body that he would beat L at his own game, that he would surpass him by creating a case too difficult for L to solve. He hadn't necessarily been suicidal, but he didn't have much care for life as it was. So, his suicide attempt had merely been for the case, not to end any sort of despair.

Beyond also remembered when he first started experimenting. He had just arrived in New York City, and had started to see if people could survive past their death dates if he intervened. There had been a woman at a crosswalk, whose numbers were nearing their end. The light to allow pedestrians to cross turned on, and the woman started to step forward. Beyond noticed that there was a car speeding down the street, showing no signs of stopping. He grabbed the back of the woman's shirt and pulled her back as the car sped past, saving her. She started to thank him, but the car crashed into a building on the opposite corner, causing debris to fly. A piece hit her in the side of the head, causing a small amount of blood to spray from the wound as she crumpled to the ground, dead. A few others were hit, but the only other person who died was the driver. His tentative conclusion was that one that could not survive past their destined death date, however he needed to repeat this type of experiment a few more times to get a concrete result. At some point during his time in New York City, he grabbed someone whose death date was in a couple of days and held them in a secure room. He made sure that they had no preexisting conditions such as diabetes that would cause their deaths, as that would be too obvious. He settled on a small woman known as Maria Rivera, a Spanish immigrant. After the first day, she stopped screaming at Beyond to let her go, and switched to pleading and bargaining. He kept her hydrated and fed through an IV drip, and made sure her small room had nothing in it which she could use for suicide. In the end, she merely had a heart attack. After her death, Beyond examined her heart and found nothing to indicate some underlying condition. It was perfectly healthy. After that, he had determined that no one could live past their death date.

Next on his list was seeing if someone could die before their date of death. This series of experiments was particularly easy, as he could pick practically anyone. However, it was equally frustrating, as it meant he had to be very careful as to not show any of these people anything that could lead to his identification. The first person was a drug addict he found in an alleyway. While they were unconscious, he slit their throat with a piece of glass that was nearby. The man didn't move, but Beyond watched as the blood flow stopped rather quickly, and the man stirred in his drugged stupor. His pulse was weak, but still there, and Beyond took a mental note of the results. He did very similar things with the rest of these would-be victims. Once he stole the gun off of one, and whenever he pointed it at the victim's body in spots where a gunshot wound would be fatal, it jammed. However, whenever he moved it away from these areas, it fired just fine. The result from these experiments was that no one could die before their time was officially up. Due to these results, Beyond decided that the way he would beat L once and for all, was to create the perfect serial murder case that even HE couldn't solve. For Beyond had many advantages over the other serial killers L put behind bars. He was far more intelligent than any of them, and he had training as a detective, so he knew exactly what to do to avoid being caught. He also had his ability to see death, so he would always be successful in his murders. It was then that he had started to formulate the plan that would later be known as the LA BB murder cases.

L sat at his laptop screen in the dark, as he usually did. He was working on quite a few cases at the moment, but the new Kira case took precedence over the rest. He had never seen anything like it in terms of the manner of killing. Kira didn't have to be anywhere NEAR his victims in order to kill them, and they all died by heart attacks. At the very least, L was sure of where Kira was, and the necessities for his trip to Japan were being prepared as he worked on some of the easier cases. Since he had to be in Japan to make any further progress on the Kira case, he was playing catch-up with his other ones. He took a thoughtful bite of his strawberry shortcake, not tearing his eyes from his screen. He sent a quick message to the German police, telling them who to arrest for the recent serial beheadings. He was about to go on to the next case, but was interrupted by the door opening.

"Watari, what do you need? I know that it is not yet time to leave, as the preparations will take at least another two hours and thirty-seven minutes to complete." He said.

Watari closed the door. "I understand, L, but I just received some news from California that you will be interested in." He informed, handing L a letter.

L took it in his thumb and forefinger, as usual, and unfolded the paper.

 _To whom it may concern,_

 _As you know, criminals have been dying of heart attacks by a killer known only as 'Kira'. Thus far, we have been unable to save any of the inmates through any means. We have sent this to notify you of the death of prisoner 4971375, or Rue Ryuzaki. He died of a heart attack in his cell._

 _With regards, Warden Christopher Welling_

L put the letter into Watari's outstretched hand, eyes turning back to his computer.

"Watari, please burn this. Also, keep a lookout for Beyond. He isn't dead. Kira has no way of knowing who he is, so there is no possible way he was killed by Kira." L said, his voice betraying no emotion.

Watari merely nodded and left the room with the letter. He knew better than to question the prodigy. L took another bite of his cake, thinking about this new development.

 _If he broke out, he must be after Kira. He already knows that his last game with me failed, and is very unlikely to try that again. Only a 3% chance. However, he is more than likely curious as to who Kira is and how he kills. He could be quite useful in the investigation, even if he refuses to work with me, of which there is a 89% chance he will refuse._ L ate a strawberry, the last remaining piece of his cake, and continued on his other cases. Beyond was unlikely to cause too much trouble, and L was fine with this. After all, this could easily be to his advantage. _You won't get away, Kira._

 **A/N: Hey, guys! I apologize in advance, but my updates will be sporadic. I already have the basic summary of this whole thing typed out, beginning to end. I can't tell you when the updates will happen, but I will say that this will be finished no matter what. I hate seeing so many great fanfics go unfinished. :(**

 **Another thing, I apologize for my writing style. I'm bad at dragging things out with descriptions and other interesting bits, so my style is very concise.**

 **I appreciate reviews and criticism, but not outright insults. Those are just annoying and a waste of time. I mean, you CAN insult me if you really WANT to, just be aware that you will be completely ignored. :3**


	2. Chapter 2

Beyond stretched as he got off the plane, his joints popping. The Tokyo airport was crammed with people, passengers and citizens both. It smelled of people and fast-food, with a hint of industrial cleaner. He hadn't run into any issues while in the Los Angeles airport, despite paying for his plane ticket in cash. How those customs people were so stupid, he had no idea. He had robbed a few places before going to leave America, mostly criminal dens so as to leave no trace. It's not like they could report a robbery without being arrested themselves. During the first robbery, he had also stolen some clothes. Couldn't exactly go around in a bright orange jumpsuit, now, could he? After that, he had gone to a small pharmacy and bought makeup to cover his more obvious burn scars. He didn't feel like impersonating L anymore, he had no reason. The entire purpose had been to irritate L, by being a BETTER L. He had then found someone who could create false passports, and obtained one for himself. After having about $10,000 US dollars to spare, he headed to Japan. The Yen he'd get from that would be more than enough to last him until he could rob another criminal den.

He walked out of the airport with only a couple strange looks. He didn't look like the average tourist, and the citizens of Japan saw this. He wore a large button up shirt, very loosely tucked into his also too-large dress pants. On his feet was a pair of ratty tennis shoes, and his suitcase was only a large carry on. Nevertheless, he continued walking the streets well after nightfall. He finally came to an abandoned warehouse in an old industrial district, and decided to settle in there. It was better than staying outside. He pushed the old metal door open, and it let out a dying shriek. He winced slightly at the sound. He'd have to fix that. The interior was just as dirty, if not more so, than the exterior. Rusted metal and bits of old glass were strewn about the floor, and a few of the rusted beams sagged on the ceiling, threatening to snap at any time. There were many weeds around as well, doing nothing to cover up the garbage and other refuse throughout the space. However, there were no recent footprints, or any other signs of people coming in in the recent past. There were also a few doors that led into other rooms, most chained and locked shut. He carefully stepped through the waste all over the floor to the first door. It only held a rusted padlock, which he easily broke with a rock. The door opened, screeching like the first, but not quite as loudly. This room was far cleaner than the other main room, with only some small bits of metal and rocks. No human garbage, no plants, just what was already there when this place had closed. It was also of decent size. He could fit everything he needed in this room, and put the lock back onto the outside to make it look just as untouched as before. Beyond smirked, putting his flashlight down on the floor while he cleaned the room out a little. He didn't need much sleep, and in fact was unable to sleep for very long. Usually 3 hours at a time, five at the most.

Beyond pulled out a watch from his bag. 4:35 am…..no stores would be open at that time, so he had to wait to get the things he needed. He figured that sleep would be the best way to pass the time, so he pulled out a sweatshirt and laid it down on the ground as a pillow. As he fell asleep, a smirk broke out on his face. He would be the one to win this time.

Beyond woke slowly, grimacing at the soreness in his body. He would have to get a sleeping pad when he went out. Sitting up, he felt his spine crack. Yep, definitely needed a sleeping pad. He cracked his neck, standing up from the ground. Reaching into his bag, he got out his money. He walked out of the room, making sure to replace the padlock. Once he was sure that even if anyone showed up, they wouldn't be suspicious of the room, he left. He made sure that no one was on the streets before making his exit. He walked down the street with his hands in his pockets, safely guarding the money. He first stopped at a Uniqlo to get clothes that actually fit. Walking in, he went directly towards the men's section. He grabbed several pairs of loose, dark jeans, a few dark t-shirts and long sleeved shirts, as well as socks. He also got a dark suit, as there was a good chance he'd get into something where he would need formalwear. After he was satisfied with those, he went to get shoes. He just got two pairs. A pair of tennis shoes, and a pair of dress shoes. After purchasing, he stopped in the dressing rooms to change. He left, and his next stop was a computer store. He needed a decent laptop if he was going to investigate, after all. It didn't take him long to settle on a computer. His bigger problem was how he would keep it powered, as the warehouse had no working outlets. After thinking for a few moments, he figured that he would just pretend to be an office worker while in a cafe. No one looked twice at those people, and no one remembered them. He paid for the computer and charger in cash again (seriously, no one found it suspicious?) and left. Now all he needed was food. Unfortunately, most of the food he ate required refrigeration, so he also needed a cooler and some ice. Walking into a camping store, he quickly grabbed a cooler and left. He then walked down the street until he reached a large grocery store. He went for the jam first. Honestly, one of the few things he agreed on L with was that sugar helped in the thinking process, and that strawberry things were superior. He grabbed three large jars before moving on. He next got some strawberry pastries, and a small carton of strawberries. He also got some crackers and bread, and a bag of ice. He checked out, the cashier giving him a strange look through her glasses as she scanned his jam. He quickly grabbed his items and left. He had to drop his things off at the warehouse, then he had to go to a cafe to get a good look at the Kira case. He smirked as he thought about how easily e could beat L with this one case. He would come out of this victorious.

Beyond sat in the back corner of a small cafe, sipping on his coffee-moistened sugar. He wore his black suit, but had the tie undone and the shirt slightly rumpled. He also wore a pair of false glasses, and ample makeup to make his skin seem darker than it really was. He had several pages opened and was constantly switching between all of them. Most had to do with Kira, but one was a decoy page to throw off suspicion in case a customer decided to see what he was doing. So far, he couldn't find much information that could be considered helpful. Most sites devoted to Kira viewed him as a god and tracked the big criminals he killed. Beyond needed more info than that. Looks like he had no choice but to hack into the police database. His fingers flew across the keys, bypassing firewalls and triggers that would alert them to his presence. He quickly downloaded as much as he could, and exited promptly, leaving no indication that he had ever been in their system. He looked through the files he had downloaded and smirked. THIS was what he needed. He now had all of Kira's documented kills, along with details like what they had done, and what time they had died. The times were very helpful, as they indicated that Kira was a student. However, after awhile, the times started changing. One criminal every hour, on the hour. Kira's way of showing that he could control the time of death, kill whenever he wanted to. It didn't take a genius to see that Kira hated losing. However, he could see that Kira needed to have access to police servers to get to some of these criminals, because as far as he had seen, Kira needed a name and face to kill. So, Beyond was looking for a student who most likely had connections to the police. Kira could also just be able to hack like himself, though. If that were the case, he could very well be looking for someone of high intelligence. Beyond could make no conclusions past this, though. He sighed, shutting the laptop. A thought occurred to him. If Kira needed a name and face to kill, Beyond could easily threaten L. He smirked, grabbing a piece of receipt paper and hastily scribbling a riddle on it. He grabbed his laptop and left for a post office. He knew that L would know that he wouldn't actually give out his true name, but it would still get under his skin, since no one else but Wammy was supposed to know his name. After sending that, he needed some jam, as he was currently stuck on the Kira case and needed a boost.

L sat in the hotel room, reviewing the information on his new task force. He would be revealing himself to them in a little bit, and needed to know everything he could. He paused as he heard soft footsteps behind him.

"Watari, I assume this must be about B?" He said, not bothering to turn around.

Watari nodded, despite knowing that his charge couldn't see him. "Yes, we just received this. It's a riddle from him. Turns out he's in Japan, now."

L held out his hand, and Watari placed the small slip of receipt paper in it. L looked at it, and quickly put it down again. He turned to Watari, slightly concerned.

"He knows my true name. The answer to the riddle is 'low light'."

Watari's eyes widened, but L kept talking. "Of course, I know that he is not going to reveal my name to Kira, as he wishes to be the one to beat me himself. But the implication stands. Beyond could easily have me killed, and this also shows that he knows that Kira needs a name and face to kill. Looks like he's trying to solve the Kira case before me."

Watari was about to say something, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. L shooed him out, not wishing for him to be seen just yet. He pushed the riddle and Beyond to the back of his mind and invited the task force inside. He had a lot to do if he was going to get Kira.

 **A/N: Hey guys! Updaaate! Yaaay! I never know when to exactly end these, so if this doesn't seem like a good spot, I apologize. I hope you enjoy this little story of mine.**


	3. Chapter 3

Beyond shuffled through the grocery store, looking for the preserved fruit aisle. It had been two days since he had made any progress, and he hoped that more jam would help. The day he had sent L the riddle, he had found out that 12 FBI agents had died. If he had to guess, he thought that L had had them tail the police working with him in order to check if anything was suspicious. Well, turns out one of them must have been. Or, more likely, a family member of one of them. He also theorized that Kira could kill with more than just heart attacks. The recent bus-jacking held some evidence to this. The guy had robbed a bank, yes, but his subsequent hallucination didn't add up to his history. He was more or less mentally sound, and at his age schizophrenia would have already manifested. He took no medications, and had shown no indication of mental illness his entire life. The worst thing was aggression. Plus, if Kira could control his victim's actions before they died, as he did with the three prisoners who wrote messages on their cell walls with their blood, there was no reason he couldn't kill with methods other than heart attacks. It would also make sense if he had found the name of one agent, and used them to get the names and faces of the others before killing them.

Beyond reached the aisle he was looking for, and walked down it. Once he reached the jam, he stood and looked at it, trying to decide which one he would get. He knew he wanted strawberry, but he also kind of wanted raspberry for once. Not only that, but there were several different brands. Did he want the normal? Or the organic? The organic tasted better, but was more expensive. He had enough money at the moment, but he also didn't want to burn through it too quickly. As he stood there, pondering, another person came up behind him.

"Excuse me, I just need a jar of blueberry."

Beyond turned around and looked at the person. _Light Yagami, huh?_ He thought. However, his attention was quickly drawn a little lower. Light Yagami had no death date. Beyond's mind raced through the possibilities, and most involved this guy being Kira. He smiled darkly before catching himself, moving to the side so Light could access the jams.

"Of course, I apologize for getting in your way." He responded.

Light just smiled and took a jar of blueberry. Beyond continued staring, and Light started feeling uncomfortable. After an awkward wave goodbye, Light left to continue his shopping. Beyond's gaze followed him until he was out of sight, and he grabbed a jar of strawberry jam before heading to the checkout. Looks like the jam _did_ help, even if not in the way he intended. He now had a suspect. A very _viable_ one, at that. Beyond had a lot of surveillance to do, now.

Light was walking down the street with his groceries in hand. His mother had sent him out to get her things for dinner, as well as a pie. Poor woman was looking for anything to distract herself with, at this point. She was worried about his father all the time, now, since he was working on the Kira case. Light himself knew that his father wasn't in any immediate danger at the moment, but only because he had no intention of killing his own father unless absolutely necessary for him to go on with his duties as God. He rolled his eyes as Ryuk laughed again. Damn, his laugh got annoying. It reminded him of the sound of bones grinding against each other. It sounded like death. Which, given that Ryuk was a shinigami, was appropriate. Ryuk leaned down to speak in Light's ear.

"Hey, Light, you sure are popular, aren't you?" he asked.

Light was struggling to tolerate the annoying shinigami. "What do you mean?" he asked quietly.

Ryuk laughed again. "Remember when you were being followed by that agent? Well, another guy's following you, now."

Light stiffened as he walked. _Another_ person was following him? He didn't dare look behind him, since that would be suspicious, but simply kept walking. He made a couple of detours before getting to his house, to try and shake the man. He had no idea if it worked, so he quickly entered his house and locked the door behind him. Looking out the window, he saw no one. Was Ryuk just messing with him? No, Ryuk may not take a side in this war of justice, but he had been right about the FBI agent tailing him, and had expressed discomfort over it. Light's eyes darkened. He'd have to be more careful, if there was someone following him. He turned back to the kitchen, and put the bag down on the table.

"I got the food, mom. You didn't say what kind of pie you were making, so I just got blueberry jam. Is that okay?" he called out.

His mother poked her head around the corner. "Yes, Light! Of course that's okay! Sorry, I forgot to tell you!" she said.

Light smiled. "It's okay, mom. I'm just gonna go up to my room and study."

"Okay, sweetheart!"

Light headed up the stairs to his room, making sure to check his little 'trap'. The door handle was how it was supposed to be, and the paper was still there, too. Good. He opened the door and entered his room, closing and locking the door behind him. He took out the death note from it's hiding spot in his desk drawer. Sitting down, he pulled up the police database and began writing.

Beyond watched the house for a moment before turning around and heading back to his own 'home'. Light was quite suspicious, in his eyes. Especially since he had clearly noticed soeone following him, but didn't turn to find out who it was. Instead, Yagami had made three small detours in an attempt to shake him off. There was also the strange shadow following him. It wasn't his own, that much was clear, but Beyond didn't know what it was. If he looked directly at it, he couldn't see it. He only saw it when focusing on something else, and even then it was barely there. He also thought he had heard another person speaking, but it felt like static in the background of a radio station. It was maddening. What managed to convince him that he wasn't hallucinating, however, was the behavior of Light. When Beyond had heard the static, Light's demeanor had noticeably changed. It seemed that Light was perfectly well aware of the strange spectre following him, and that it had notified him of Beyond's presence. Beyond would have to continue following Light, to try to get to the bottom of this.

Beyond opened the now quiet door to his warehouse. He shuffled across the floor to his room, where he opened a jar of jam and started eating. He should probably find a way to get into the Yagami household without appearing suspicious. However, Light would automatically be suspicious. He was very intelligent, that much was clear from what he had seen so far, so would give away no clues to Beyond, even by accident. Beyond could possibly pretend to be a Kira supporter, to try to gain favor, but unless he did it perfectly, he would be suspected. He could possibly just break in to circumvent this, but he wouldn't get to know Light that way. Beyond decided that he would have to follow Light for a little while longer, learn his daily routine. Then he could come to a solution. He put his hand in the jar again, only to come up empty. He had already eaten all of it. He frowned slightly and put the now empty jar to the side. He laid down on his mat, and started to fall asleep. Even as he was starting to fall asleep, his mind raced through the case. Light was a student, and with how intelligent he seemed to be, he would most likely be going to a university. The easiest way to keep an eye on Light would be to enroll in school. This would certainly be interesting.

Beyond had been following Light for five days now, and he was beginning the sixth. Light never yielded anything, and everything he did was normal and inauspicious. Which is exactly why he was the number one suspect for Beyond. Light Yagami was _too_ perfect. There was also the fact that he had no life span, but that wouldn't exactly be admissible in court. Beyond decided that he needed to get into the house that day, as he needed more information. He didn't know which university Light was planning on going to, and that was crucial to Beyond's plan on getting close to Light. Based on what he had observed so far, Light would definitely be going to a high-end school, like Touou. However, he needed to know for sure. Plus it would help to take a peek into his private life, possibly find some information he could use to his advantage.

He arrived at his destination, but stayed hidden in the bushes across the street. There was a large van in front of the household, and several government-types carrying things in and out. Looking closer, Beyond saw that they were cameras and microphones. _Looks like L has the same suspect._ He thought. He grimaced. This wasn't good for him at all, really. He wouldn't be able to hack into the camera system himself, as he neither had the necessary materials nor the technological capabilities. He could hack into police databases, sure, but he couldn't hack into bigger sites, like, say, interpol, or MI6, or L.

Beyond turned and left. Well, there goes his plan. Now he'd have to take several entrance exams, and just hope he saw Light at at least one of them. L just _HAD_ to do that _today,_ didn't he? Now Beyond had to keep following Light in a desperate attempt to find more information. He walked until he found where Light usually was; the library. Guy was always studying for one thing other. Beyond walked in, and grabbed a random book, sitting down a little ways away from Light. Looking at his book, he saw that that strange shadow was still there in the corner of his vision. He really wasn't paying attention to the book, and turned a page every couple of minutes.

Eventually, a person went up to Light and sat down across from him. He seemed cheery, must be an acquaintance from school.

"Hey, Light! Still studying for Touou, I see?" He greeted.

Light looked up, smiling. "Yeah, I really want to do as well as I can. It's the only school I'm really interested in, and I want to get in."

"Man, you already know you have it in the bag! You'll probably get a perfect score, the way you always do! Why not take a break, have fun with some friends, get a girlfriend!"

Light just kept smiling. "You're probably right, but I can't take a break. I don't want to take any chances."

The other kid frowned; looking at his face, Beyond saw that his name was Ryuji. "Light, you're cool and all, but you really need to cut loose every once in a while. I've gotta go, I'm going out with Shiro. Bye."

He left. Light simply went back to his studies, not caring in the least about the other boy's opinion. Beyond was quite happy with the results of that conversation. He now knew that Light was going to Touou, so now Beyond only had to take one test. Beyond got up, placing his book back. He now had to hack into Touou, and place himself in the entrance exams. Hopefully this case would be over soon.

As he walked, he wondered about his decision to catch Kira. It certainly wasn't due to a sense of justice, or moral superiority, as he himself had killed several people. He wasn't frightened of Kira, as his name and face were never released to the public, and weren't even in police files. The only file on him with his name and face belonged to L, and were most likely kept in Winchester at Wammy's. He thought the whole way home about this. Why _did_ he want to catch Kira? As he sat down, opening a jar of jam, he came to a simple conclusion that should have been obvious from the start. He still wanted to beat L. If he could solve the Kira case, the most DIFFICULT case ever for L, he would beat him. He would prove his superiority once and for all. The copy would be superior to the original. Beyond smiled, and laughed as he took another handful of jam. It wasn't his practiced laugh, it was his true laugh. The one that sounded like bones scraping against one another. The laugh of a god of death.

 **A/N: yaaaaay! Chapter three! I really appreciate the good attention and reviews I've gotten. I never thought this would be so popular! I hope you all like this, and continue to enjoy it. Happy reading! :3**


	4. Chapter 4

Beyond sat in the entrance exams for Touou university. He sat with his knees up, as usual, but wore his dark suit, along with some false glasses and heavy makeup to cover his scars. Light was near the front, quickly going through the test. Beyond was going through it just as quickly, without much effort on his part. For a top university, this test was rather simple. Though, Beyond wasn't able to judge the difficulty properly, given his….history. At Wammy's, he would have taken this test at age six. He was now nineteen. He had only been testing for about ten minutes, and he was already about a third of the way through.

"Student 162, please sit properly." He heard a moderator say.

Beyond looked in the direction of the voice, and stiffened. Student 162 was wearing baggy jeans, a white long sleeve shirt, and had the messiest black hair he'd ever seen. He sat -squatted, really- on the bench, and was staring at Light. L is here, too...dammit. Beyond thought. He could only tear his eyes away from his rival when he was also told to sit properly. He grumbled and complied. However, when he looked back to L, L was looking straight back with a knowing smirk on his face. Beyond grimaced and turned back to his test. Great, now L knew he was there. Perfect. Beyond just tried to finish the test, though his rate was slightly diminished with the new distraction. It took him thirty minutes to finish it, at which point he flipped it over and leaned back in his seat. Now he had to wait for three hours and thirty minutes to be released. He spent that time observing Light. He finished five minutes after Beyond, and seemed quite bored. Well, it was clear that he was going to have one of the top scores with that attitude. Other than that one instance, however, Beyond had nothing more to make note of. He was bored out of his skull for the remaining time.

The bell rang, signifying the end of the test. Beyond stood up and walked out the door. He hurriedly got out of range of the school, as he really didn't feel like talking to L. Now he had to wait a month for the acceptance letter, and from then until April fifth to give the valedictorian speech. He trudged to his warehouse, not all that happy about the wait. No matter how much he hated it, he still had to wait, and nothing would change that. At least this way he would get to know his suspect.

It was finally April fifth. Beyond smirked and chuckled, walking into the school's auditorium for the ceremony. As he had known, he got a perfect score. He also tied with L and Light, as suspected. They would all three end up on stage to give an acceptance speech. As everyone sat in the same auditorium they had taken the tests in, three names were called.

"Light Yagami, Rue Ryuzaki, and Hideki Ryuuga." They called.

At the last name, a large wave of chatter swelled up. So, apparently L was using the name of a famous idol as his alias. So basically, if Light tried to kill him with that name, he might accidentally kill the idol. Interesting.

As he stood at the podium between L and Light, he listened to some of the students' conversations. One he found amusing. Between three girls. One, Kyoko, had commented on how she liked Ryuuga (or, as he knew, L). One of her friends called her weird, saying that anyone in their right mind would go for Light. The third commented on how she would rather go for himself, as she felt Light was too 'perfect looking', and thus was bound to have some issues. If only you knew.

Another conversation between two boys centered on the first impression the three made. They stated how Light looked like a sheltered genius, his intelligence cultivated like a plant in a greenhouse. They said that L looked like a natural genius, who made little to no effort to maintain his intelligence. They then discussed what Beyond was, finally settling on a mix between the two. Natural, like L, but that natural genius was also cultivated to be even better. Well, they aren't wrong. He thought.

Finally, the paper was passed to him by Light, and he read it off, eyes barely looking at the page. He had already memorized it, simply by reading it as Light had been speaking. After he had finished, he handed it to L, who took it gingerly between his thumb and forefinger and always. Beyond would sometimes hold things like that, but not all the time. Most of the time it was only specific things. Like cell phones. However, he could never hold eating utensils the same way. He waited until L was done speaking before returning to the present. L shook hands with Light, and both were rather friendly with the other.

"Oh, by the way, I'm L." L whispered to Light.

Both Light and Beyond froze. Neither had been expecting that, but for different reasons. Beyond was perplexed as to why L would choose to reveal himself to Kira so soon. He had known that L would do that eventually, but not so quickly. Light relaxed, obvious effort being put into the action. He told L he respected his work, and all three went back to sit. They stayed through the rest of the welcoming speech, but Beyond wasn't paying any attention whatsoever. He was busy trying to find out L's plan with doing such a thing. He knew why L had revealed himself, just not so soon. L wanted to make Kira slip up, but usually he was more patient with things like this. Beyond's eyes lit up in realization. L was being impatient. He was frustrated with the case and not being able to solve it. He had a suspect, but Light clearly hadn't slipped up while he was under surveillance. He had no evidence, and was desperate to solve the case as quickly as possible. He smirked, and narrowly avoided laughing. L had met his match! It was too funny, Beyond could do so much more than L like this. He wasn't tied down in the least by laws, while L could only toe the line. Beyond could also see that Light had to be Kira, while L only had statistics and his intuition. Beyond would beat L this time, and no one could truly stop him.

He was jolted out of his fantasies by a sudden wave of applause. It took a moment for him to realize that the ceremony was over. He stood up and walked out, looking forward to getting back home and away from people in general. He wasn't anywhere near as much of a shut-in as L, but he still didn't like being surrounded by people. He felt someone poke his back and whirled around with a scowl on his face. It only deepened when he saw that the offender was L.

"What?" He snapped, unable to keep the malice from his voice.

L simply looked at him, unfazed by the obvious hatred. "Why are you here, Beyond?" He asked.

He laughed. "You should already know that."

L had to suppress a shudder at the sound. Not much could faze him, but Beyond's laugh made him uncomfortable. "You're hunting Kira."

Beyond nodded. "I am."

L stared at him. "There is no reason why I shouldn't arrest you right now."

Beyond smiled. "But you won't. You need as many people on this case as possible."

"Yes, but while I do need help, you will refuse to do so."

"Fair enough. I'd much rather beat you to the end."

L thought for a moment. "Very well. While the Kira case is active, you will not be pursued. That is the only thing I will provide you. Everything else you will do for yourself. Once the Kira case has concluded, however, is another story."

Beyond grinned. "I accept." He turned away. "Have a nice day, L."

Beyond walked away, leaving L behind him. L turned away as well, and saw Light leaving the school.

"Light!"

Light turned and greeted him. This was going to be an interesting competition. Not only did he have to beat Kira, he had to beat Beyond, as well. He had to resist smirking. The race is on.

A/N: Hi again! As I'm sure you've all realized by now, my writing is pretty fast paced. I really wish I was capable of drawing things out and making them interesting, but even with trying this is all I can get. :/

This will probably be over in a few more chapters, with my style. Although I will continue writing other things, from stupid one shots to a potential sequel. For the moment, though, I have no clue what I'd do for a sequel. Suggestions would be nice, though. I could possibly draw inspiration from them. :3


	5. Chapter 5

Beyond sat in a small cafe, nursing a coffee while the TV blared in the background. There hadn't been any new developments for awhile. Well, at least nothing Beyond considered a development. Kira was still killing, and that was it. He looked around him at the cafe. He again wondered why he had chosen this one. The color scheme was white, pink, and brown. It looked as if it were designed by a fourteen year old girl. Bows, lace, hearts, everything. To make it worse, the only channel that was ever on was Sakura TV, which only showcased celebrities and other mindless drivel. Remembering the empty tables around him, Beyond knew again why he had chosen this location; it was mostly empty during the day, since it was frequented by students only after they got out. Beyond glared at his coffee. Why couldn't there have been a different cafe that was still mostly empty? Why did it have to be this effeminate misery? The TV continued droning on in the background.

"–in other words, we are all Kira's hostages." The anchor said.

Beyond's head snapped up to the TV, along with the heads of the staff. Kira's hostages? A poorly made video came up on the screen. The voice of Kira started speaking, the voice scrambler clearly having been done at home. This didn't seem like Kira to Beyond.

'Kira' continued speaking. "...anchor Mr. Kazuhiko Hibima will die of a heart attack at exactly 6 o'clock."

The TV channel changed to see a dead news anchor at his desk, and the staff quickly changed it back to Sakura, where 'Kira' spoke.

"This is punishment. I will present you with another victim. My next target is NHN TV commentator Mr. Seiji Komaizumi, who's scheduled to appear in a broadcast."

They changed the channel again to another similar sight of a dead anchor. It was quickly changed back again.

"Now that you've seen proof of my powers, you should have no trouble believing that I am Kira. People of the world, please listen to me. The last thing I want to do is kill the innocent. I hate evil and love justice. I've always thought of the police as allies, not enemies. Even if you don't agree with me, all I ask is that you NOT publicize your views in the media. If you can do that, you will be spared. All you have to do now is be patient. I'll create a better world that we can all enjoy. Say goodbye to the world as you know it. Soon we'll have a new world brought my benevolence and inhabited by kind-hearted, honest people. Try to imagine it. A world where the police and I would work together…"

Beyond zoned out in thinking at this point. There was no way that this was Kira. Kira was nowhere near as infantile as this new person. However, the chance of a second tool to kill people like this also dropping in Japan was incredibly minimal. Could the original Kira have lost it somehow? No, that was even more unlikely than a second one. Was Kira working with another person? Even less likely than having lost his killing tool. Not only had Kira never expressed any interest in a partnership before, but Kira would have picked someone far more intelligent than this one. His head shot up as one of the staff screamed.

On the screen, it had changed to a shot if the front door to the studio. Right at the door lay three crumpled bodies, two in police uniforms. Beyond's eyes widened. Their names hadn't been shown. They couldn't have been, which means that either this second Kira knew all three personally, or…..they had the same ability as himself.

Beyond barely managed to keep from shaking. This second Kira only needed to see his face to kill him. Now more than ever he was incredibly glad that his mugshot from L.A. was never even put on a computer. All they had was a physical copy at the prison. He had killed several people, and would be a prime target for either Kira. Now it was even more imperative that he keep his true appearance a secret. In fact, he would now need to wear far more makeup to alter his facial structure. He couldn't exactly go around in a mask all the time, as even the most idiotic of people would find it suspicious. He walked out of the cafe, leaving a few yen to pay for his coffee on the table.

He made sure to keep his head down as he headed to a makeup shop to get more supplies. It didn't take him long, and he quickly made it to the register.

"Wow, knew exactly what you needed, huh?" The cashier said.

Beyond nodded. "Yes, it was quite easy to find."

The cashier nodded back. "Good. Means our organization method works! So, what exactly do you need this all for? You're not running from the law, are ya?" He joked.

Beyond gave a good natured chuckle in his practiced fashion. "No, theater makeup is a hobby of mine. I hope to get good enough to do special effects for movies someday."

The cashier looked at him and smiled. "Really? That's really cool! Hope you make it, bud,"

Beyond thanked him, paid, and left. He walked quickly to his warehouse to put on his disguise. As he got to his room, he looked at his funds and grimaced. He'd have to get more money, and soon. Especially since he needed so much makeup now. Putting his bags of cosmetics down, he grabbed a jar of jam from his cooler in the corner, unscrewing the top. He stuck his hand in, taking out a large amount before licking it off.

He now had a new development, but he still didn't have too much to go on. He supposed he'd just have to wait for some other video. He paused in his eating for a moment. He'd have to go back to that cursed cafe every day, now, as they were one of the few places that played Sakura TV at all, let alone every day. He groaned at this realization. Maybe he should have stayed in prison.

Beyond sat in the cafe again. It had been six days, and the only thing that had been broadcast was a tape from the second Kira that indicated that the police refused to work with them. The second Kira wanted L to appear on TV, in order to kill him. It was painfully obvious that that was not what was going to happen. L would find some way to weasel out of it. He always did.

Beyond looked up from his strawberry pastry as the news anchor announced that they had gotten another video from a different person who claimed to be the real Kira. There was about an 83% chance that it was actually L provoking them into revealing more information. The video started speaking.

"I am the true Kira. The one who was broadcast several days ago on Sakura TV was a pretender, a fake. The purpose of this message is to communicate my will to this impostor. I have chosen to be lenient with him for the time being, only because I believe he wishes to cooperate with me in the creation of the new world. But I want to make it absolutely clear that the taking of innocent lives is against my will. If this person claiming to be me is truly sympathetic to my cause, and wishes to be of some help, I ask two things of him: that he refrain from killing aimlessly, and that he agrees to abide by my basic principle."

The video turned off. Definitely L. If it were actually Kira, he would have made it clear to go on with killing L by making him appear on TV. However, L was smart enough to know that this second Kira was so stupid that they wouldn't notice that Kira said nothing in his 'reply' about killing L. Beyond got up, leaving his payment on his table, and left. The second Kira would most likely reply to this, and then set up a meeting spot either through the next video or a fifth video. The latter was more likely, as this imposter was so infatuated with Kira, he would try to reply as quickly as possible saying that he'd cooperate. This second Kira was not only impatient, but far too stupid to come up with any sort of plan to meet in such a short time. Beyond grumbled on his way home. Great, he'd have to keep going to that damned cafe.

Beyond sat in the frilly cafe again. It had been two days since the video L made had aired. He was watching the TV as always, and waited for the response from the second Kira. He almost smiled when it finally came on.

"Kira, thank you for your reply. Please do not worry, I'll follow orders and so as you say. I really want to meet you. I don't think you have the eyes, but you don't have to worry, I will never try to kill you. That's a promise. Please tell me how I can meet you without the police knowing. You'll think of something. And when we meet, we can confirm our identities by showing our Shinigami to each other."

Beyond paused and thought. 'The eyes' most likely referred to the ability of the second Kira, which he suspected was the same as his own. Shinigami…that's what truly intrigued him. It wasn't too hard to believe in their existence for him, and he honestly felt that their existence was the most likely possibility. However, he couldn't discount that it could possibly refer to their common killing ability. He sincerely doubted it, though. Another thought occurred to him: could his ability also be due to Shinigami? Being able to see when someone would die sounded very much like a Shinigami thing. But, he was pretty sure he had never met one, and besides his eyes, his body functioned as a normal human's. Plus, he wasn't sure if Shinigami could reproduce at all, let alone with a human, so the chance of him being half Shinigami were pretty minimal. Less than one percent. But still….how did he get his eyes?

Beyond got up from his table and left once it was clear that the video had ended. He had a lot to think about, and hoped to come back only a few more times for those videos. He shuffled off, contemplating multiple things at once. But at the forefront of his mind were the Shinigami and his eyes. He hoped to meet a Shinigami during this case, maybe then he'd get answers as to why he had this god forsaken ability to see death wherever he went.

A/N: Yaaaaay! Chapter five! :D

I think this is my longest one yet. I dunno, though. Didn't check the word count. I also literally looked up the dialogue for the Kira tapes, in order to be as accurate as possible. Hopefully it's to everyone's liking!


	6. Interlude

A/N: Hey, guys. This story is now on hiatus for a little bit. You see, I tend to cycle through fandoms, adding new ones every once in awhile. When I started this, I was in a Death Note phase. Now, I'm in a Fullmetal Alchemist phase, switching into a Soul Eater phase. Again, it's a cycle, so I'll end up with Death Note again after a while. So, until I get back to my Death Note phase, this is on hold. As I've already said, I have the whole basic plot written out already, so this will be finished. I just can't muster up enough inspiration to write it out as best I could. I'll probably write some other stories in my other phases, and I'll add my cycle-thing explanation to my author's page. Until I can pick this up again, happy reading!


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